China’s three remaining Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying games will take place in Dubai instead of Suzhou, the Chinese Football Association announced on Monday, after the latest Covid-19 disruption to the calendar. The hosts beat Guam on Sunday night in front of 30,000 fans but the remaining matches in the group, which also features Syria, Maldives and the Philippines, will now take place in the Emirate. “In view of the recent outbreak of infection in the Maldives and Syria national football teams, according to the relevant provisions of China on the prevention and control of infectious disease among inbound personnel, the entry of the Maldivian and Syrian teams to participate in the competition need to be strictly isolated and cannot participate as scheduled,” the CFA said in a statement. “Based on the AFC’s recommendation, the Chinese Football Association agreed, it has been decided that the 2022 Qatar Fifa World Cup and AFC Asian Cup 2023 joint-qualifier second stage group A will not take place in Suzhou and is transferred to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.” I have been tested positive for COVID-19 from the most recent PCR & blood tests conducted in Dubai yesterday. I am doing well Alhamdulillah! pic.twitter.com/RKHLx2cxRM — Ali Ashfaq (@AliAshfaq07) May 30, 2021 However, the AFC posted their own statement later to say that no new venue had been decided. “The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has today decided to move the remaining centralised Group A matches of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 from China PR to a neutral venue, which will be decided and announced in the coming days,” it said. China hammer Guam in front of 30,000 in World Cup qualifier The Maldives and Syria are both in Dubai already and were set to leave for China before they did not get approval to travel. Maldives international Ali Afshaq tweeted that he tested positive for Covid-19 in Dubai on Sunday. China’s Wu Lei, who scored twice on his return to the national team in their 7-0 win over Guam, arrived from Spain, where he plays for Segunda Division side Espanyol, earlier this month. He did not go through quarantine. CFA officially announce the remaining matches of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying AFC 2nd Round Group A are relocated from Suzhou to Dubai. China have 3 matches to play: vs Maldives(Jun 3) vs Philippines(Jun 9) vs Syria (Jun 15). At least 1 of the matches is likely to be postponed. pic.twitter.com/LziFjiGjSh — Titan Sports Plus (@titan_plus) May 31, 2021 China were set to play Maldives on June 3, the same day that Philippines would play Guam, but Chinese sports paper Titan Sports wrote on Twitter that the shift to Dubai would probably mean at least one game will be postponed. The 7-0 win over Guam may not count when it comes to deciding on the final standings in group A. As North Korea have pulled out, the AFC decided that the results of the fifth-placed teams in each groups will not count in the qualifiers. China are second to Syria with three games to play. The group winners and best second-placed teams advance to the next round.